General Housekeeping Tips

This section is designed to give general advice on how to optimise the performance of your machine and keep things running in good working order. If you are already experiencing problems start with step 4 the disc checking routines and then perform steps 1 to 3.

Step 1 - Clear Up all unnecessary temporary files and Cookies.

Double Click on 'My Computer' which is normally either on the desktop or 'Start Menu' within Windows 2000 / XP, right click on your main disk drive (normally the 'C:' drive). On the Properties tab it will open in the 'general' tab and click further down on the tab 'Disk Cleanup'. It will then take up to a couple minutes to check what can removed, you then check all the boxes that come up in the 'Files to delete' section.

This you should run weekly.

Step 2 - Run an Antivirus Scan

If your system does not automatically run an Antivirus scan - ensure your virus definitions are up to date and run one now. If in doubt try the online scan at Symantec (Norton) you can also check your online exposure to other security threats Symantec Online.

Running an Antivirus Scan should also be performed weekly.

Step 3 - Run and Anti-Spyware Scan

For Windows 2000 and XP we recommend that you run a good Anti-spyware package Ad-Aware from Lavasoft has a good reputation, this can be found in the Download Section. Ensure that you install the spyware definitions which should be updated prior to running this. If you suspect spyware problems that have not been cleared by Ad-Aware then install Spybot search and destroy, update the spyware definitions and do a further system scan with Spybot.  A further recommendation is to install Windows Defender this can be downloaded directly from Microsoft's web site at Windows Defender.

Running an Anti-Spyware Scan should also be performed weekly.

Step 4 - Run the Windows Disk Checking Routine.

Double Click on 'My Computer' which is normally either on the desktop or 'Start Menu' within Windows 2000 / XP, right click on your main disk drive (normally the 'C:' drive). On the Properties tab it will open in the 'general', click on the 'tools' tab and click on the 'Check Now' tab, and when prompted click on 'Automatically fix files system errors' and 'Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors' and click 'start. Windows will advise that cannot be performed and offering the option to schedule a disk check next time the computer restarts - click on 'Yes', then restart your computer.

If you find errors the chances are that if there are small number your system will be OK, if however the scan finds a large number of disc problems particularly if these are 'bad block' then it could be suggestive of a disc that is starting to fail, we would suggest you back-up to another media your data at the earliest opportunity.

Appleton Computers would recommend that you run this monthly.

Step 5 - Run a 'Disk Defragment' on your hard disc.

Double Click on 'My Computer' which is normally either on the desktop or 'Start Menu' within Windows 2000 / XP, right click on your main disk drive (normally the 'C:' drive). On the Properties tab it will open in the 'general', click on the 'tools' tab and click on the 'Defragment Now', and on 'Disk Defragmenter' windows that appears click on 'Defragment'. This take a long time typically up to an hour or two if this has not been run before.

Appleton Computers would recommend that you run this monthly.

Finally always shutdown Windows properly and avoid switching the power off, if this ever happens then run immediately the disk check routine detailed under step 4.